Vacation Days
by lnmac13
Summary: Rated T. Castle drags Beckett away from work for a few well-needed vacation days.
1. Chapter 1

"You asked Gates?!" Kate practically shrieked, jumping up from the couch, and pacing determinedly across the floor of the loft. "And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me?" She turned back towards him, a hard look in her eyes that, it now occurred to him, he hadn't seen directed at him in years.

"Kate, I wanted it to be a surprise," he offered tentatively, looking up at her with a guilty expression on his face that clearly read 'please don't shoot me.'

"Castle, I don't do surprises." She pursed her lips, crossing her arms across her chest as she leaned against the kitchen counter of the loft.

He smirked. "You didn't seem to mind too much when you woke up handcuffed to the –"

She cut him off with a glare.

"Sorry, sorry!" He protested. "Not a good time for jokes, I get it."

Castle began to shift uncomfortably in his seat on the couch, waiting for her to say something. He had never quite been sure how she managed to do that – even with Meredith and Gina, neither of whom were particularly easy to evade, he had always been able to laugh off their anger, deflecting it with jokes and laughter. With Kate, he felt like a little kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar one time too many.

Desperately wanting to say something, he opened his mouth, but closed it a moment later when he saw the look on her face. That was the look that said 'not now, Castle.' That was the look that he only got when he was in _huge _trouble.

She paced across the room from the kitchen to his study, holding up a hand to silence him as he opened his mouth again. After a moment, she returned to the living room, sitting in one of the comfy leather armchairs across the table from him. As she took in a few deep, calming breaths, he was suddenly glad for all of the yoga classes she had been taking to help herself relax. Of course, the tank tops and the tight black pants were a bonus, too.

"Castle," she began quietly, with an edge to her voice that told him she was doing her best to stay calm. "I told you last year, after everything that happened, this is my life. And this is my job. And I know that I've been working on opening up to you, but Castle, you need to respect that I can't just get up and leave whenever I want to."

Before he could speak, she added. "Don't get me wrong, it was very… sweet of you, I guess. But Castle…"

It was his turn to shush her. "No, Kate, I'm sorry. I should have known you wouldn't like to be pulled away from work without me telling you first. I just… I wanted to do something nice, and I feel like we don't get a lot of time away from the precinct. But the point is, I'm sorry, Kate." Fiddling with the hem of his shirt, he informed her quietly, "If you really don't want to go, we can find some other time." He looked up from the string that was coming unraveled on his plum-colored shirt. Pity. He loved that shirt.

As he caught her eye, Beckett sighed. Sometimes she wished she could go back to when they had first met, before she had lost the ability to withstand his puppy-dog eyes.

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and remembering what Dr. Blythe had told her – that she needed to practice opening up to Castle a little bit more. She knew that if she told him no, she'd just be running away.

"No, Castle… it's fine. Just, please, a little bit more advanced notice next time."

His eyes lit up, and before she could react, he was at her side, leaning over the arm of the chair and kissing her, one hand tangled in the hair at the back of her neck, and the other at her waist. To her surprise, he was the one to pull away a moment later, leaning back and sitting on the armrest. "Really? You'll go?"

"I said I would, didn't I? And I don't exactly know how I'd explain it to Gates if I didn't."

He grinned, and hopped up off of the chair, bending over for one more kiss before racing out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to go start packing!"


	2. Chapter 2

Kate was, to some extent, glad that he had kidnapped her for the week. Not that she would ever admit it. But she knew she _did _need some time off, and she could already feel herself relaxing into the passenger seat of her crown victoria.

Castle frowned slightly. "I'm sorry we had to take your car. I would have taken the Ferrari, but Ryan and Esposito insisted on driving it around since I was taking you away for a week and they'd have to do all that paperwork by themselves."

"Castle, you know I have vacation days, right? You don't actually have to bribe them into letting me go." She grinned, and looked over at him.

He shrugged, his attention flickering from the road, to her face, and back again with a smile. "What can I say? I'm just a kind, generous person."

Beckett stifled a snort. "Yeah. You keep telling yourself that, Castle." Her eyes drifted over towards his face, and a secretive smile crossed her lips. "But I know you. You're just a giant softie."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Castle insisted stubbornly, his eyes fixed on the line of cars in front of them with every ounce of his attention.

"So, where are we going?" Kate asked, staring out the passenger window as they sped past a never-ending line of trees.

"It's a surprise," he told her, smiling smugly.

"Castle, as I'm pretty sure I made clear the other night, I don't do well with surprises," she said, fixing him with a slightly disapproving gaze.

"You're an honorary member of the Castle family now. We Castles love surprises."

"Rick…" She sighed, knowing she might as well give up now.

"Look, I know you're a little skeptical right now, but I think you're going to like it." He glanced over at her, as if to judge her reaction.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

They didn't speak for a while after that. Castle spent his time humming along to the radio with a self-satisfied smile on his face; Kate contented herself with staring out the window, and taking occasional sips from her coffee cup.

Castle's phone rang loudly from his pocket, breaking the silence that had fallen in the car. He pulled it out, careful to shield the screen from Kate's view, and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rick. Where are you two?" came the voice on the other end of the line.

"We're about two hours away, if the traffic's not too bad."

Kate cocked her head to the side, thinking about where they could be going, and listened intently to Castle's half of the conversation.

"Does she know yet?"

"Not yet, no," Castle said quietly, grinning at Kate.

She stuck her tongue out, unhappy at being kept out of the loop.

"She'll figure it out before too long. See you in a few hours."

"Yeah, see you." He clicked the phone off, and looked over at Kate, amused at the frustrated look on her face. "Still trying to figure out where we're going?"

She remained silent, looking out at the road with confusion, then gasped, and leaned forward in her seat, as if searching the road for signs that she was right.

"You figured it out," Castle remarked. "So? Was it a good surprise? To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep it from you this long."

"Castle…" She murmured. "This is…" She fell silent, smiling. After a moment lost in thought, she leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Castle."

He grinned. "I thought you'd like it. You haven't been up here in a while, and I know you've probably wanted to."

"I have. I've been meaning to find the time, but I never wanted to leave work long enough to drive out."

Castle chuckled. "I thought that was why. I'm glad I could drag you away, though."

She smiled, and stared out the window with a growing sense of anticipation as they neared their destination.

And finally, they were there, pulling up the dirt driveway lined with trees on either side, and stepping out into the brisk air.

"Katie!" called a voice from the open door of the house. Her dad walked closer, giving her a tight hug. "Hey there, kiddo."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter 3 - hope you all enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor its characters.**

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Castle carried the bags up to the front steps while Kate caught up with her dad. When all the bags were sitting outside the door, he headed back down the steps, and entered the conversation as unobtrusively as he could, slipping an arm around Kate's waist and waiting for them to finish talking. He couldn't help grinning to himself when, unconsciously, Kate leaned into him while she was talking, letting him wrap his arm around her.

Kate looked up at him, smiling, when she finished talking, before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Rick," her dad said, smiling broadly. "How's it going?"

"Not too bad," Castle replied, letting go of Kate momentarily, so he could shake Jim's hand. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm doing pretty well, thanks," He shivered. "Let's head on inside. It's still pretty cold up here, for this late in the year, anyways."

He led the way inside, picking up one of Kate's bags on the way in the door. Leading them down the hallway, he told them, "Katie, I made sure your room was clean, and Rick, I've made up the guest room for you." He set Castle's bags in the room across the hall from Kate's, and headed back out into the kitchen. "You guys can go ahead and get settled."

Castle looked at Kate quizzically.

She rolled her eyes, and told him, "Don't even try to argue with him. It's not worth it."

He nodded, and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning towards the guest room. He didn't get far before she grabbed the lapels of his coat, pulling him closer. Reaching up on her tip-toes, she brushed past his lips to whisper in his ear, "Don't worry, Castle. You can always sneak in here after dad goes to sleep." She stood back, smiling slyly.

"I might just have to take you up on that offer," he remarked, slipping his hand onto her waist, resting on the bare skin just under her shirt.

She placed her arms around his neck, reaching up on tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss, smiling softly. Before she could escape, he pulled her back, her body flush with his, and pressed his lips to hers.

She pulled away after a second, quickly winking at him, before taking his hand and dragging him into the kitchen behind her.

"Do you guys want something to eat, or did you stop somewhere on the way?"

"We had lunch on the way here," Castle told him. "Although, I doubt either Kate or I would say no to a cup of coffee, if it's not too much trouble." He looked over at her for confirmation.

She grinned at him, and murmured, "You know me too well."

"I've been studying you almost every day for five years, Kate. I hope by now I'd know when you wanted a cup of coffee."

"When you say it like that, Castle, it sounds really creepy," she shot back, grinning at him.

Jim Beckett looked between the two of them with amusement. "I can make a pot," he said, turning towards the counter to hide his smile.

Castle wrapped his arms around Kate's waist from behind, leaning forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. She leaned back into him, and turned her head towards his. "It's still creepy," she whispered, and pulled away when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She pulled it out, and glanced at the screen, before telling the two men, "I'm going to go take this."

"Kate, you're on vacation. I'm sure it's not that important," Castle protested.

"It's Lanie," she told him, grinning when she saw the expression on his face change.

"Go. I don't want to have to investigate your murder because you didn't take her call."

She smirked, and headed out onto the deck.

"Hey, Lanie," she greeted, leaning against the railing of the weathered wooden deck.

"Kate Beckett, tell me you did not just leave on vacation with Castle without telling me about it."

Kate was silent, smiling at the irritated tone of Lanie's voice.

Lanie was enraged. "Girl, you leave with Castle and I find out from _Javier_?"

"Lanie, I didn't even find out until last night," she protested, leaning forward so her stomach rested on the railing.

"He didn't tell you beforehand?" Lanie asked, astonished. "Does that man have a death wish?"

"I wondered that, too, but…" She trailed off, glancing back at her father and Castle, who were deep in conversation. She smiled as Rick gesticulated animatedly, practically bouncing with excitement as he related his newest tale.

"Oh my god!" Lanie shrieked, making Kate jump, and yank the phone away from her ear. "Kate, where on earth did he take you? Because if you're not mad, it's got to be somewhere good."

"Hang on, let me switch to a video call, so I can show you," she said, turning the camera towards the two men inside.

Lanie gasped. "He took you to see your dad? That's… really sweet."

"I know."

When Kate was taking her call, Jim pulled Castle aside. "Listen, I want to thank you for dragging Katie down here. She works too much, and I never get to see her for very long."

"She needed a break," Castle said, looking out the doors leading to the deck.

Jim looked out the window, gazing at his daughter through the smudged glass. "She looks better than she did," he remarked quietly. "Less tired. Happier."

Castle didn't tear his eyes away from her, but shrugged instead. "I try to make sure she's not getting so caught up in work that she skips meals, or try to run on three hours of sleep."

Jim shook his head. "It's more than that. I haven't seen her this happy in years," he told Castle, watching as Kate laughed at something Lanie had said.

"I'm just glad she's happy," Castle remarked.

Jim said nothing in reply, but gave a small, content smile.

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**Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see at some point, just let me know!**

**xoxo**

**Erin**


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